Idaho 20A

[mtnbiker208]

middle fork aviaton out of challis. those guys can fly when others are grounded.

you are defiantly in for one heck of an adventure. good luck and whack a big one.
Who are you using for a jet boat? to bad you couldn't have a raft stashed and float out.

 

[Baddog]

How far of a walk is it?

 

[Idguy88]

The walk will be about 19 miles so in 8 days that means we need to cover a little less than 2.5 miles a day. However, most likely what we will do is hit the ground and pack 10 + miles the first day so we can hunt a couple days back towards the airstrip and depending on how things are going/looking we will pick up and move camp another 4-6 miles, hunt that area and then after another day or two bump another couple miles closer to the end to be near the top of the canyon on our last day so if all goes well and we have heavy packs we will have a short distance to travel that will all be down hill. We will have the father of one of the guys in the group pick us up near he confluence.

We will be following a series of trails in the area so that leads me to another question. Does anyone know that shape of these trails? I am 99% sure Mackay bar outfits in the area so I would image the trails are in good enough shape for their stock to use.

 

[idahohikker]

The walk will be about 19 miles so in 8 days that means we need to cover a little less than 2.5 miles a day. However, most likely what we will do is hit the ground and pack 10 + miles the first day so we can hunt a couple days back towards the airstrip and depending on how things are going/looking we will pick up and move camp another 4-6 miles, hunt that area and then after another day or two bump another couple miles closer to the end to be near the top of the canyon on our last day so if all goes well and we have heavy packs we will have a short distance to travel that will all be down hill. We will have the father of one of the guys in the group pick us up near he confluence.

We will be following a series of trails in the area so that leads me to another question. Does anyone know that shape of these trails? I am 99% sure Mackay bar outfits in the area so I would image the trails are in good enough shape for their stock to use.

1. Cover lots of ground with the glass. Move every day or two max. Some areas will look great and hold zero animals.
2. Assume nothing regarding trail maintenance in the Frank. Outfitters will go where they want and the rest will be largely unmaintained. Sounds like confirming trail conditions is important for this trip.
3. If you are going 20 miles, what do you do if you shoot one more than five miles from the strip or the boat? With elk sized game I’d just hunt from a strip or the boat and not try to do a 20 mile walkabout.

 

[Idguy88]

We will set parameters so that we do not have 4 animals to deal with right off the bat.

Say someone shoots something day 2. Then 2 guys will be shuttling meat and camp all day, while the other 2 continue to hunt. Say if I tag out on day 3, then myself and guy who punched tag day 2 will be spending the rest of the trip moving meat, camp etc. it will be a constant shuffle. If all tags are filled on day 4, then looks like we will be shuttling meat for the next 4 days. This is just an example. Once a tag is filled by someone, that persons job for the remaining days will be shuttling meat, nothing else.

Its difficult to describe exactly how things will go because it all depends on when we find game. Keep in mind we will have deer and elk tags. Each person will only being filling 1 species so there is a better chance we will be filling deer tags more often than elk. BUT who knows

 

[BeaverHunter]

The walk will be about 19 miles so in 8 days that means we need to cover a little less than 2.5 miles a day. However, most likely what we will do is hit the ground and pack 10 + miles the first day so we can hunt a couple days back towards the airstrip and depending on how things are going/looking we will pick up and move camp another 4-6 miles, hunt that area and then after another day or two bump another couple miles closer to the end to be near the top of the canyon on our last day so if all goes well and we have heavy packs we will have a short distance to travel that will all be down hill. We will have the father of one of the guys in the group pick us up near he confluence.

We will be following a series of trails in the area so that leads me to another question. Does anyone know that shape of these trails? I am 99% sure Mackay bar outfits in the area so I would image the trails are in good enough shape for their stock to use.

If you guys can all hike 10 plus miles on the first day in this country I would be shocked. I’m not being sarcastic at all, you do know this is considered some of the roughest country in the lower 48 right? What happens if you guys shoot an elk day one? Are you going to pack it 18 miles? Not saying it can’t be done but it might be easier to eat it up there then pack it that far.

 

[Baddog]

Sounds like an adventure!

 

[idahohikker]

We will set parameters so that we do not have 4 animals to deal with right off the bat.

Say someone shoots something day 2. Then 2 guys will be shuttling meat and camp all day, while the other 2 continue to hunt. Say if I tag out on day 3, then myself and guy who punched tag day 2 will be spending the rest of the trip moving meat, camp etc. it will be a constant shuffle. If all tags are filled on day 4, then looks like we will be shuttling meat for the next 4 days. This is just an example. Once a tag is filled by someone, that persons job for the remaining days will be shuttling meat, nothing else.

Its difficult to describe exactly how things will go because it all depends on when we find game. Keep in mind we will have deer and elk tags. Each person will only being filling 1 species so there is a better chance we will be filling deer tags more often than elk. BUT who knows

Please report back. This is a hoot to follow. So, can you carry an elk more than 5 miles in really rough country? If not, how you shoot anything more than five miles from the exit point?

I'd say with a group of four fit guys under 40, they could handle one elk up to say 15 miles. That would be five miles from the strip.

Beaverhunter and I have hunted Central Idaho for years and are kind of thinking the same way here...I know Beaverhunter is a stud but I can't see him attempting a 15 mile packout.

 

[BeaverHunter]

I wasn’t trying to come off sarcastic or condescending in my first post. I would just hate to see you guys shoot an elk or 2 and try and pack it that far in that country. I would plan on hunting from the river or an airstrip. Just my 2 cents. No matter what you’ll probably see some great looking country. Good luck

 

[nphunter]

Good glass, light rifle, comfortable pack and good boots. We also got snow last time we hunted 20a. We hiked in, saw some elk and one guy killed a small 3 point buck.

When my buddy and I kill an elk back in we pack it out together and then hunt together again after. One guy with no gear will be 4 heavy packs full of meat, 5 trips is what’s comfortable for most. 5 miles from camp/river is 45 miles of walking to get that animal out 25 miles of heavy packing for 1 elk. 10 miles from camp is 90 miles of hiking, 50 with meat.

I’m sure you won’t have to worry about packing 4 bulls out Just wanted to put it into perspective a little.

It will be a cool trip in awesome country. I would save the money if it were me and buy 2 deer tags and 2 elk tags, if successful switch it around the following year.

 

[Huntnnw]

I wasn’t trying to come off sarcastic or condescending in my first post. I would just hate to see you guys shoot an elk or 2 and try and pack it that far in that country. I would plan on hunting from the river or an airstrip. Just my 2 cents. No matter what you’ll probably see some great looking country. Good luck

thats what I would also be doing, 5 miles in that country is brutal. It sounds like alot of tags will go unfilled on a journey like this.

 

[GregB]

If you are looking at doing 10 miles in the first day you would also have about 6k feet of elevation gain if not more. You may want to rethink your plan.

 

[Idguy88]

GregB, not sure which area you are talking about but that is not where we are going. Chamberlain air strip sits about 5600 ft. The first 8-10 miles heading west we would get to an area of around 6200 ft with zero draws/canyons/mountains to cross . We feel extremely confident in making that first jaunt. I appreciate you guys chiming in but really all I was looking for was some thoughts on flight companys and "generally" good areas to spend some time looking. Not whether or not if we have the ability to make the hike.

 

[GregB]

Cool, good luck.

 

[mtnwrunner]

I have always been a DIY kind of guy and say go for it. That being said, there is some valuable advice on this thread and it is some SERIOUS country.
As the saying goes, "you don't pick an epic, it picks you."
Have fun.

Randy

 

[Broomd]

"Adventure" yeah, that's it. Grin.....

I've spent considerable time in there only because I put in for sheep on a whim. And no, I didn't tag, that unit was the only 'tag soup' of my life. The insidious Middle Fork fires precluded my best hopes. glassing was all but impossible.

20a = pain is your friend, embrace him. Blistering hot, parched dry, or...dangerously deep snow and high winds. Wolves, steep country, smoke, 10,000' thin air. It's a great spot.

And take emergency communication, anything is possible in there. A fall or immobility could ghost you.

 

[Braaap]

I hunted the unit last year and probably going back this year. Make sure you post a write up here afterwards!

 

[PowellSixO]

Rough is an understatement. My brother and I flew into Cold Meadows Airstrip. We then hiked up to Papoose Lake. Then over to Farrow Mountain. Then back to Papoose Peak. Then over to Cold Mountain, and then back to the airstrip. We are both in excellent shape. We figured we put on 55-60 miles in 7 days. I lost 12 lbs in the 7 days, and was completely wiped out. We did find a group of cows, and one big bull. However they were 16 miles from the airstrip. My brother wanted to shoot the bull with all his being. I however was the voice of reason. There was just no way to get that bull back to the airstrip. Never did see a deer, but we did see 2 wolves that were coming up the same trail we were going down. No time for a shot unfortunately. One of the best trips that I've ever been on, even though we ate tag soup. Good luck on your trip.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Awesome pics Powell!

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Rough is an understatement. My brother and I flew into Cold Meadows Airstrip. We then hiked up to Papoose Lake. Then over to Farrow Mountain. Then back to Papoose Peak. Then over to Cold Mountain, and then back to the airstrip. We are both in excellent shape. We figured we put on 55-60 miles in 7 days. I lost 12 lbs in the 7 days, and was completely wiped out. We did find a group of cows, and one big bull. However they were 16 miles from the airstrip. My brother wanted to shoot the bull with all his being. I however was the voice of reason. There was just no way to get that bull back to the airstrip. Never did see a deer, but we did see 2 wolves that were coming up the same trail we were going down. No time for a shot unfortunately. One of the best trips that I've ever been on, even though we ate tag soup. Good luck on your trip.



You should start with pants too tight and by the end of the trip they'll fit ya perfectly. Cool post, trip, and pics. Love it!!